Six months ago, my friend Kerry gave me
the heads up that the design company she works for, Benning Design, had been hired to work on a
soon-to-be-opened yakitori place in Davis. The owners, a Japanese couple,
anticipated opening Yakitori Yuchan by fall. Since then I’ve been eagerly (and patiently) waiting to eat some yakitori without having to drive to the Bay Area. Last night, I finally got
my wish. My friend and I popped in during their soft opening and had a very pleasant dinner. The interior is quite pretty- a beautiful artsy bamboo
lighting fixture takes center stage, there’s lots of color splashed throughout
the restaurant (I love the bold, sunset orange-red that highlights the walls), and
the sake bar is pretty badass looking with its upside down, hanging dispensers.

When you sit down the server gives you a menu
and a small list. The list is for marking what kind of skewers you’d like to
order. Each order comes with 2 skewers. Yakitori Yuchan offers several
different kinds of chicken, pork and veggie skewers. On some of them you can
choose to have it with shio (salt) or with tare (a basting sauce made from
mirin, soy sauce, sake and sugar).

If you're unfamiliar with yakitori, here's a textbook definition:

ya·ki·to·ri: /yäkiˈtôrē/, noun

“Yakitori, grilled chicken, is commonly a Japanese type of skewered chicken cooked over a special kind of charcoal. The term "yakitori" can also refer to skewered food in general. Kushiyaki, is a formal term that encompasses both poultry and non-poultry items, skewered and grilled.”

Here’s
a few that we tried:

Eringi
(grilled King Trumpet mushrooms with a garlic sauce – the mushroom has a
nice “meaty” texture to it when grilled)

All of the skewers were delicious. I also loved
both the nasu dengaku and the Brussels sprouts dish, I could have eaten another
serving of each. The fried bits of garlic and teensy sliced pepper threads made the savory
dish absolutely addicting. Next time I’d also like to try the fried pumpkin
with curry sauce and the squid app. One thing about the service that I really liked was that the dishes are brought out in
waves as they are ready, in true izakaya fashion. This gives you an opportunity
to relax, chat and knock back a drink in between dishes. (They have a nice
choice of sakes to make your way through.)

If you get a chance, I highly suggested checking
out Yakitori Yuchan. Yakitori is the perfect food to nibble on while
socializing. It’s also great if you’re doing a no or low carb diet as most of
the skewers are meatcentric.

Note: Yakitori Yuchan currently opens for dinner at 6pm and is closed on Mondays.

Ever have those periods in your life where everything speeds
by like someone pushed the fast forward button? One minute you’re kickin’ back,
a Lady of Leisure, and the next minute, MONTHS have flown by and you’re like, “What
the heck? What just happened? How did I get here? Why am I so exhausted?” That’s what this year has been feeling like to
me. Working full time really wears me out. Being a stepmom for a
teen 100% of the time and a preteen 90% of the time is a lot of work and very tiring. There's dinners to be made, girl woes to solve and helping with homework...endless homework. Not to mention moving households
pooped me out big time. (I’m STILL unpacking.) Don’t get me wrong, all of it has been
rewarding but I swear I could sleep for weeks. Especially with the rainy
weather we’re having today. Crawling out of my cozy bed this morning was
excruciating. Anyhow, tired as I am, I
am looking forward to some cooler, crisper autumn weather. No, not because of the Pumpkin Spice lattes
hawked by Starbucks (I hate the stuff, it’s vile) but because it’ll be soup
weather soon. There’s something relaxing and luxurious about cooking soup. I
can’t wait! In the meantime, on
weeknights when I’m depleted of any and all energy, I've been making super easy
recipes and I do mean SUPER EASY. Like this one that I clipped from the Bee recently for
mushrooms. (It originally was featured
on food.com.) It’s about as simple as you can get. (I did add in some freshly ground pepper and a
dash of Worcestershire
sauce to suit my taste.)

Is there anything better than holding a piping hot bao on a
cold day? It’s like a mini-hand heater and a tasty, toasty treat all wrapped up into one. I
recently introduced the kidlets to bao. When I brought a box home for Sunday
breakfast, the little scallywags gave me the stinkeye. “What is this blob of dough you’re
handing me?” I’m sure their suspicious little minds were thinking, “Is it full
of something disgusting? Anchovies? Natto? Liver?” When I described it as being a Chinese Hot
Pocket (work with me here, they’re kids) and stuffed full of BBQ pork, they let
down their guard and took one. Kidlet #2, Mr. Picky Picky, even liked it!

If you’re unfamiliar with bao, they are
steamed or baked buns stuffed with a variety of yummy fillings like – cha siu pork, Chinese
sausage (lap cheong), coconut custard, egg
and mung bean, black sesame paste or pickled, spicy veggies. The steamed bao are a pillowy white
and a bit chewy. The baked ones are breadier, with a shiny glaze.

Baked Bao

For the past year or so, my favorite place to buy bao in Sacramento is at a little
hole in the wall shoppe called ABC Bakery in the Pocket/Greenhaven (although Lam Kwong Market downtown is a close second). ABC Bakery is
located off Florin Road in the “Old” Bel Air shopping center. (If you’re
looking directly at Bel-Air, it’s along the right side, around the corner of the
building.) It’s a very small store and
there’s almost always a line. Items run
out quick- so get there early if you want the best availability. On a recent Sunday, I
got there around 9am and bought some of their baked cha siu pork bao, curry
chicken bao and a few hot dog bao (slices of hot dog and green onions mixed in
with the dough). I'll be honest, I do normally like a little more meat in my bao than what ABC
does but I like the fact that everything there is freshly made. On my last visit, I also picked up some
shrimp dumplings which were quite delicious. The egg tarts here (I wish I knew their
recipe for their wonderful flaky crust) and (seasonal) moon cakes have also been really good during past visits.

Shrimp Dumplings

Some people I know have bitched about the customer service at
ABC citing that’s it’s very abrasive but everyone I've encountered there has
always been polite. They aren't usually Chatty Kathys but then again they’re trying to
keep the line moving. Here’s a tip, look at the menu and know what you want
before you get to the front of the line. That'll keep you from catching flack from the staff as well as the patrons behind you. ☺

There's some new stuff popping up around town that I thought I'd share:

The Public House Theater will be opening up September 26th at 5440 14th Ave. You can watch movies while enjoying a glass of wine or local brew. They also plan to offer a small menu of nibbles, sandwiches and paninis.

A small Spartan pop-up called Good Eats has quietly opened up inside Vic's Market in SLP. They're serving up some tasty Southern eats (ribs, fried chicken, tri-tip, fried Cajun snapper, red beans and rice etc). The feedback I've heard so far has been very positive, especially about the fried chicken and the mac and cheese. Heads up though- my understanding is they close early- 8pm. So get over there early!

5820 S Land Park Drive. (916) 949-1850

Bacon and Butter, Billy Zoellin's breakfast joint, is scheduled to open at its new Tahoe Park digs September 27.

Looking for something fun and educational to take the kidlets
to this weekend? Check out this fantastic event put on by the Food Literacy Center:

FREE FOOD LITERACY FAIR TO CELEBRATE

FOOD LITERACY MONTH SEPT. 14

As part of Food Literacy Month in September, local residents can attend the free Food Literacy Fair from 9 a.m.-1 p.m., Sept. 14 at Southside Park across from California’s largest certified farmers market. The fair, hosted by Food Literacy Center and Assemblymember Roger Dickinson in partnership with Southside Park Neighborhood Association, will include live music from The Hoots, live cooking demonstrations featuring local kids and chefs, crafts, kids games, free food samples, veggie costumes, face painting, a photo booth, awards and the announcement of the Veggie of the Year.